Virginia Outruns Syracuse in 'Great and Historic Rivalry'

Lacrosse fans have come to expect a certain caliber of play when Virginia plays Syracuse. The last five match-ups between the two squads have been decided by a total of six goals, with Syracuse nabbing the victory in the 2011 campaign. Sunday’s tilt provided the same run-and-gun, “track meet” mentality that has become standard in the series, with Virginia erasing a two-goal halftime deficit to emerge victorious, 14-10.

After breaking out to a 3-1 lead, the Cavaliers gave up five straight Syracuse goals before Colin Briggs stopped the bleeding with his second of three goals on the afternoon. The Orange applied early, outside pressure on the Virginia attack that led to a handful of turnovers and overall sloppy play by the Cavaliers, especially in the second quarter.

“We seemed like the team that was really tight in the first half,” Virginia coach Dom Starsia said after the game. “I always thought we were playing hard, but we just turned the ball over, some unforced errors in the second quarter and this team was good enough to turn those into goals against us.”

While several Virginia players had solid performances for the afternoon, the play of seniors Ryan Benincasa and Rob Fortunato really stood out. Benincasa came into the match-up holding a 47% face-off percentage, second on the team to freshman Mick Parks (58%). The Orange, conversely, were successful on 64% of their face-off attempts in their first two games using the duo of Ricky Buhr (67%) and Chris Daddio (68%). Sunday’s game was a different story. Benincasa dominated the X from the opening whistle, taking all 28 face-offs for the Cavaliers and winning 20 of them for a success rate of 71%.

“Coach said, 'there are no big games, but there are some games that are a little more fun.'” Ryan Benincasa stated after his breakout performance, “I think that this game is definitely one of them...under the lights of Klockner Stadium, it doesn’t get much better than this.”

Between the pipes for the Cavaliers, senior goalie Fortunato continued to prove his prowess, nabbing a career-high 16 saves. In what was only Rob’s sixth career start for the Cavaliers, he had already posted an 11-save game against Drexel and a 14-save game against Stony Brook this season. “Every one of these is a first time for him.” Starsia said, “You know, starting, playing game after game, getting yourself ready...so far he’s doing a great job.”

“I was really just trying to focus on the ball...I have to attribute some of my success to my defense, well most of my success.” Fortunato explained with a smile. “They just forced them down the alley to shots that I could save and see, and it just worked out for the win.”

Virginia’s defense employed a mixture of man-to-man and zone, relying on the zone play late in the game to keep Syracuse’s potent attack of JoJo Marasco, Tim Desko, and Derek Maltz at bay to preserve the win.

Tim Desko contributed two of Syracuse’s goals in their second-quarter run, including a nifty through-the-legs goal to ignite not only his team, but also the contingent of Orange fans that make the trek for the game. The 6-foot-2 sophomore Derek Maltz contributed five points on the afternoon in the form of three goals and two assists, utilizing his size over some of the smaller Virginia defenders. Syracuse showed its athleticism throughout the contest by maintaining constant pressure on Virginia’s attack and making the Cavaliers earn every one of their 19 clears.

Orange goalie Matthew Lerman made some spectacular stops, including a point-blank attempt by Virginia’s Steele Stanwick. His infectious enthusiasm brought the Syracuse defense alive in the second quarter, holding Virginia to only one early and one late goal. The Cavalier offense rattled off four straight goals to open the third quarter taking an 8-6 lead, a lead they would not give up for the remainder of the contest. Virginia got a score from defenseman Chris Clements, his second of the season, and a tricky worm-burner from Mark Cockerton in the streak, electrifying the home crowd of 5,855.

After Syracuse made it a two-goal game late in the third quarter, Chris LaPierre responded with a textbook fast-break goal assisted by freshman Owen Van Arsdale. “We knew it was going to be, definitely, one of those typical UVA-Syracuse games where it comes down to the transition and ground balls. It’s something we have been working on all year.” LaPierre said. The hard work showed for the Wahoos, doubling up the Orange in the ground ball category (42-21), with LaPierre nabbing five for himself.

Senior midfielder Colin Briggs continued his outstanding play, adding a hat trick and one assist on the evening, bringing his 2012 totals to 10 goals and seven assists. “They do a great job of coming out and pressuring your hands on the corner, so we talked about that in the locker room (at half time)...just moving our feet on the outside and getting your hands free...” Briggs said. He also played a few series on defense, contributing two ground balls and giving defensive middies like Bobby Hill a much needed break. “I like to think I’m a good two-waymiddie, so if the team needs me to go out there on defense, I felt like I was able to do that...just trying to help the team out and help us win was the goal.”

Despite pulling the early-season victory, Virginia knows this probably is not the last time they will see the Orange this year. “When you’re talking Syracuse, you always think they’re going to be there around May...it’s such an early game and there’s a lot of lacrosse to be played.” Stanwick said.

Syracuse faces St. John’s in Queens next weekend, while Virginia hosts Vermont on Tuesday before heading to Baltimore to take on Cornell in the Konica-Minolta Face Off Classic.

Another great match-up between future ACC foes Syracuse and Virginia is in the books, a fact that is not lost on Briggs. “It’s such a great and historic rivalry...we take it one game at a time, but guys on our team definitely circle this one on the calendar,” he said. “It was a great team win for us.”